Coming down to Thrissur during our summer holidays was always like entering Ali Baba’s cave. There were many occasions which kept us in a state of anticipation, not the least being the lip-smacking food that was everywhere – the sadyas, the coconut flavoured snacks and the payasams. They were manna from heaven and our stomachs rejoiced and rebelled in turn, especially when we gorged on jackfruit in all its avatars. The sweet juicy fruit which had an aroma that could be overpowering, the crisp chips that crackled in the mouth and the chakka varattiyathu which was a dark brown concoction that tasted amazing.
The first few days would be spent visiting our relatives. My sisters and I would skip across large courtyards where our grandaunts would wait from us, their only mission in life seeming to be to fill our little bellies with myriad delicacies. Mats would be laid out in perfect precision with small slices of mango drying in the hot sun. Many a friendly slap did I receive when I surreptitiously grabbed a few slices and stuffed them into my mouth, drooling over the exciting flavours that burst within.
My grandaunt would transport these slices into a mixture of jaggery, salt and chilli powder and out would come shiny new slices, glossy and delectable, which she would bottle and hand over to us. For those lacking a sweet tooth, she would omit the jaggery. The taste of that ada manga still lingers.
My other grandaunt also had magic in her fingers. She would prepare the softest Mysore Pak and suji ladoos along with crisp banana and tapioca chips. Her courtyard had a different ambience with mats spread out with little rice snacks, akin to the modern Fryums, dried in the sun and deep fried. As the old Lays advertisement went, “No one can eat just one!” We would crunch into them, savouring the taste, feeling on top of the world.
No sadya in Kerala is replete without the ubiquitous pappadam. All of us have a distinct fondness for these puffed-up rounds which add so much to any meal. In olden times, pappadams too had pride of place along with other sun-dried snacks. Today, as is the case of most food items, fewer people are spending time on their preparation as everything is available in the market. When I think of how much we used to love watching these snacks being painstakingly being made by hand, I feel sad that our children and their offspring will miss out on all those hours of happiness.
However, as the old quote goes,
“The old order changeth, yielding place to new,/ And God fulfils Himself in many ways,/ Lest one good custom should corrupt the world.”
Lord Tennyson
Deepti Menon has always loved the written word. She began to write at the age of ten and was lucky enough to have travelled around the country as an Army kid. Her experiences during those years helped hone her interest and her flair for writing. A respected author, her published works include ‘Arms and the Woman’, ‘Shadow in the Mirror’, ‘Where Shadows Follow – Tales that Twist and Turn’, ‘Shadows Never Lie’; a book of poems titled, ‘Deeparadhana of Poems’, several short stories as part of anthologies, and for children a four volume titled ‘Classic Tales from Panchtantra’ and more recently an autobiography ‘Defying Destiny: Nalini Chandran – A Life Sketch’. Her books are available on online.
Click here to read her personal blog : https://deepties.blogspot.com/